The government is set to convene yet another All Stakeholders meeting on Friday, mere days after the chaotic Constitutional Conference ended in Harare this week. The two-day conference that ends on Saturday in the capital will centre on the formulation of a national vision that forms part of the unity governments rebranding programme. (Pictured: Simba MAll political parties in the country have been invited, as well as members of the business community. Speakers include Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn leader Simba Makoni, Dumiso Dabengwa, the interim leader of ZAPU and representatives of other political parties.
Addressing a press conference in the city on Monday, the principal director in Mutambaras office, Professor Paul Mavhima, said the meeting sought to craft a national vision for Zimbabwe in pursuit of the countrys rebranding exercise.
We want to come up with a shared vision and map up where Zimbabwe is going so that even if we have a new government in place, it would just take up that vision, he said.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will give the keynote address at the conference, although Vice President Joice Mujuru will officially open the event. Mujuru has been implicated in an illegal gold deal with her daughter Nyasha, who tried to sell gold from the DRC on the international market. Nyasha, who lives in Spain, tried to sell the gold to a European company that trades in raw materials, saying funding for the deal would be provided by her mother. The deal was worth between US$20 US$40 million a month to the Mujurus. When the company refused and placed Mujuru and her daughter on a blacklist, Mujuru made threatening phone calls to the company.
It is therefore ironic that Mujuru will open a conference seeking to create a vision for a better Zimbabwe, when she herself is at the centre of a scandal involving the plunder of resources from a neighbouring country. Political analyst Professor John Makumbe said the Mujurus, or any other ZANU PF stalwarts attempt to promote a national vision, was hypocritical, given that the party has no intention of allowing any other vision, aside from the ZANU PF one, to lead the way forward. ZANU PF people do not want a united vision for the country, and they believe the vision should only come from them, Makumbe said.
Makumbe further explained that the rhetoric of a national vision for the country has been created purely to inspire donors to invest, but he argued none of these efforts will translate into investment until the parties genuinely start working together.
The hypocritical speech of unity and of a national vision will not fool donors, Makumbe explained.